Digital Foundry: Every PS4 Pro native 4K game tested

If you've bought PlayStation 4 Pro and paired it with a brand new ultra HD TV, the chances are that you'll be looking for a range of games designed to get the most out of both of your new purchases. As we stated in our Christmas videocast, the likes of Ratchet and Clank, Rise of the Tomb Raider and COD Infinite Warfare are must-play experiences, but just how many PS4 Pro titles manage to hit a native 4K with full-fat 60fps gameplay?

There's no shortage of 4K games lists for PS4 Pro dotted across the internet, so over the last few weeks we spent our spare time getting hold of each and every game that purports to offer native ultra HD gaming, with an emphasis on targeting 60fps. Each title was put under the Digital Foundry microscope, with pixel-counts carried out to ensure that native resolution was indeed being delivered. Curiously, we discovered that quite a few titles said to be running at 4K were clearly and obviously not handing in anything like the required pixel-count, so we created a sub-category for these titles along with their actual native rendering resolutions.

In the final analysis, we were left with a mere ten titles that fulfilled the initial brief - handing in the combination of a locked 4K pixel count matched with 60fps gameplay. You can watch Dave Bierton and Tom Morgan sort the wheat from the chaff in the latest Digital Foundry videocast below, where the discussion is backed with native 4K footage for all titles captured.

[4K] DF Videocast #8: Every Native 4K 60fps PS4 Pro Game Tested!

For those that like to have the data broken down for them, based on our testing, we count ten pure, native 4K 60fps titles available right now for PlayStation 4 Pro:

• FIFA 17 (some 30fps camera modes)
• Hustle Kings (HDR support)
• Mantis Burn Racing (HDR support)
• NBA 2K17 (some 30fps camera modes)
• Neon Chrome
• Pro Evolution Soccer 17 (some 30fps camera modes)
• Rez Infinite (Area X may be sub-4K)
• Thumper
• Viking Squad
• Wheels of Aurelia

Still handing in an impressive 4K 60fps experience, but just falling short in a couple of areas, we have:

• Bound (geometry-only 4K)
• Diablo 3 (dynamic scaling)
• Farming Simulator 17 (wobbly frame-rate)
• Smite (dynamic scaling)

We recognise that 60fps isn't a prime requisite for gaming, and there are a bunch of native 4K titles out there running at 30fps too. We've still got a couple to test here (Parappa the Rapper's demo is 4K30, for example, but we'll wait for the final game) but right now the list is as follows:

• Assassin's Creed: the Ezio Collection
• The Last of Us Remastered (1800p60 mode also included)
• The Witness (1080p60 and 1440p60 modes also included)
• Skyrim
• The Elder Scrolls Online

And finally, we have titles widely reported online to be operating at native 4K, but actually running sub-natively, or using other upscaling techniques like checkerboarding.

• Darksiders Warmastered Edition (1620p)
• Futuridium EP Deluxe (1080p - awaiting Pro patch?)
• Helldivers (checkerboard 2160p)
• Let It Die (1440p)

Of course, gaming resolution isn't the be-all and end-all of the gameplay experience. Many Pro titles still look phenomenal on ultra HD screens without having to hit anything like native resolution. Even 1440p titles - of which they are many on PS4 Pro - can still offer a big visual upgrade over the existing 1080p versions on base PlayStation hardware. To keep up to date with the latest releases, check out the Digital Foundry PS4 Pro game upgrade guide.